Regenerative Medicine News and General Information
Male Birth Control Pill 99% Effective in Mice Studies
Mar
There are many available choices for women for birth control, including pills, patches, intrauterine devices, which results in them bearing most of the burning of preventing a pregnancy. Currently, there are no available pills or options, other than condoms and vasectomy for men to help in preventing a pregnancy. Vasectomies can at times be reversed, but is an expensive procedure and is not always successful.
In a recent report, scientists revealed their findings of a non-hormonal male contraceptive that effectively prevents pregnancy in mice, without obvious side effects.
The team of researchers used a mice model for their study and targeted a protein called the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RAR-α), which is one of the proteins of a family of 3 nuclear receptors that bind to retinoic acid (vitamin A) that plays a role in cell growth, differentiation, which includes the sperm formation; and embryonic development.
Previous studies had used a compound able to inhibit all 3 members of the RAR family resulting in reversible sterility in male mice, but the team wanted a more specific approach with less potential side effects.
The researchers identified a compound, that they named YCT529, that inhibited RAR-α almost 500 times more potently than it did RAR-β and -γ. They gave the compound to male mice during 4 weeks, and found that it dramatically reduced sperm counts and was 99% effective in preventing pregnancy. Mice were able to father pups again 4-6 weeks after stopping the compound.
The group will begin testing the compound in human clinical trials by the end of 2022.
Source:
American Chemical Society. (2022, Mar 23). A non-hormonal pill could soon expand men’s birth control options. American Chemical Society, New Releases, 2022. Retrieved from:
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Photo by Deon Black on Unsplash
